The Other Side of Town

I left the Galaxy Hotel at about 11:30 AM yesterday and we got in the cab and the taxi driver said he knew where the Westin Hotel was. We proceeded to head across town from the lower priced areas near the University towards the modern high-rise office towers in the center of city. As we got close the driver called on the phone to his office in obvious confusion. I interrupted him and pointed out on my map where it was and he was much happier. Fortunately, we weren't very far from the hotel.

The Westin is 4.5 stars and not 3 like the Galaxy and the difference in quality (and price) is greater than the numbers. Of course they didn't have my on-line PRE-PAID reservation, but that was "No Problem". See a pattern here? I went up to my room and was greeted with an elegant, modern 19th floor room with a wonderful view of the Old City and some of the high rises. A “complimentary” bowl of fruit awaited me. I also noted a chrome and glass end table that is in my living room. How nice to give me a touch from home! It shows they have good taste. My over-packed luggage arrived shortly and of course the bellhop was expecting a tip in this country that you are not supposed to tip in!

I setup my computer so that I could get the information about the reservation and it turned out that the Internet connection was not quite as good as the Galaxy Hotel which meant that I couldn’t use all of the tricks to get around the Great Firewall of China that I could at the Galaxy Hotel, but I was still able to get the reservation information. I proceeded down to the Registration Desk and was informed that they had contacted Expedia.com to determine that I did have my reservation.

I then unpacked my suitcase, loaded up the camera and headed out towards the Huangpu River and the Bund, the strip along the river where the old colonial offices in grand European style were. I took many pictures along the way, but it was cold. Why didn’t Saint Joseph’s send me here in May? I wasn’t alone with my camera. Everyone was taking pictures, especially with the background of the Pearl of the Orient Tower behind them. Every 100 yards was a little stand with photographers who would take the requisite tourist picture with the small person in front of the far away famous site.

The wind was blowing and it was cold. I continued up the Bund along the “park” area by the River. In the room there was a card from Runners World Magazine with a running course from the hotel along this road. One must be really crazy to run these streets and sidewalks. I’ll stick to the 4.5 star gym in the hotel.

After a bit I turned down off of the riverside walk towards Nanjing Street, which is the famous shopping district in Shanghai. I didn’t get as far along this road as I wanted because I was getting very cold and there were a few snowflakes (or was that frozen pollution). I wandered down some side streets and was greeted by people selling socks and wallets and whatever. Also, a couple of times I was greeted by men who wanted to engage me and become my friend. I wonder what they had in mind? The people here are very friendly, but I could sense these “gentlemen” were too friendly, though there was one man who seemed genuinely interested in talking about teaching.

I took lots of pictures that show the new riches and the old realities. I am certain that the once I get home and have a decent connection it will be reasonable to post them as well as my messages.

After walking for a couple of hours, I headed back to the hotel that was easy to find because of its garish rooftop adornment. The buffet dinner was much better (and you guessed it, much more expensive) than the Galaxy Hotel. But I am worth it! My goal was to return to the room, process a few of the pictures for this post and then get to sleep. Wrong. I could barely keep my eyes open, so I headed into the lovely bed, pressed the remote control light switches by the bed and was asleep instantly.

I awoke at about 5:00 AM to write these words before heading down to the gym, to a certain deliciously expensive breakfast and then off for a cold day of picture taking. The sun will be shining and I will wear an extra layer.